The political impulse to secede -- to attempt to separate from
central government control -- is a conspicuous feature of the
post-cold war world. It is alive and growing in Canada, Russia,
China, Italy, Belgium, Britain, and even the United States Yet
secession remains one of the least studied and least understood of
all historical and political phenomena. The contributors to this
volume have filled this gap with wide-ranging investigations --
rooted in history, political philosophy, ethics, and economic
theory -- of secessionist movements in the United States, Canada,
and Europe.
Is secessionism extremist, a dangerous rebellion that threatens
the democratic process? Gordon and his contributors think
otherwise. They believe that the secessionist impulse is a vital
part of the classical liberal tradition, one that emerges when
national governments become too big and too ambitious. Unlike
revolution, secession seeks only separation from rule, preferably
through non-violent means. It is based on the moral idea,
articulated by Ludwig von Mises in 1919, that "no people and no
part of a people shall be held against its will in a political
association that it does not want. The authors cite the famed 1861
attempt to create a confederacy of Southern states as legal, right,
and a justifiable response to Northern political imperialism. They
note that this was not the first American secession attempt -- the
New England states tried to form their own confederacy during the
War of 1812. This evidence, they argue, begs a reinterpretation of
the U.S. Constitution along secessionist lines. Further they
believe that the threat of secession should be revived as a bulwark
against government encroachmenton individual liberty and private
property rights, a guarantor of international free trade, and a
protection against attempts to curb the freedom of association.
These straightforward, pellucid arguments include essays by
Donald Livingston, Murray N. Rothbard, Clyde Wilson, Thomas
DiLorenzo, and Bruce Benson, among others. If overgrown nations
continue to decompose, as they have for the last decade, these
authors believe it is essential that secession be taken seriously,
and fully understood. Secession, State, and Liberty makes a vital
contribution toward that end. This stimulating, thought-provoking
collection is necessary reading for intellectual historians and
political scientists.
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